From making New Year resolutions to new plans, we all look forward to a new year. It seems that the government and the Opposition are also trying to plan ahead for 2022 — a year that is quite important in several ways for Pakistan’s political situation. According to several political pundits, the next few months are the most crucial as many things would be settled by then. It is all mainly linked to the appointment of the next army chief in November this year.
Last month, I wrote about backdoor deals and the possibility of a no-confidence move against Prime Minister Imran Khan. Any such move by the Opposition will not succeed unless there is a ‘nod’ from powerful quarters. Khan’s warning in a live telethon on Sunday was a message to that effect.
“If I am ousted from the government, I will be more dangerous for you. Right now, I am sitting quietly in my office and watching the drama unfold. But if I take to the streets, you will have no place to hide,” warned Khan while answering people’s live calls on national television.
This was no ordinary message. And it wasn’t just for the Opposition by the look of it. There are speculations whether the message was for the powerful quarters instead of being directed at a political leadership. Others are wondering if this message was a sign of frustration. As Zahid Hussain wrote in Dawn, “The outburst may not have been the first time that Prime Minister Imran Khan lost his cool but his tenor during a live TV session the other day was not one expected from a leader who is in control of the situation. A threatening tone betrayed his deep frustration and vulnerability.”
In the same telethon, the prime minister accused some segments of the media of painting a bleak picture of the economy rather than presenting the full picture about global inflation. He said some journalist mafias are only trying to push the Opposition’s narrative on the economy.
For some odd reason, this government is obsessed with the media. Those who criticize the government are not just trolled online by pro-government accounts but also targeted by government officials. A recent example is that of the brave Asma Shirazi, who is facing the wrath of the entire government machinery because of her independent views. Instead of blaming the media for everything that is going wrong in the country, the government should perhaps focus on governance and on improving the economy.
Earlier this week, the prime minister’s adviser on accountability, Shahzad Akbar, resigned from his post. Media reports suggest that the premier was not happy with Akbar’s performance in office. Accountability is the mantra that makes the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government different from others as this was one point that Khan has been hammering again and again, even when he was in the Opposition and, later, when he took office in 2018. Khan’s ‘war against corruption’ is the one thing that is constant. He says he will not spare the ‘corrupt’ Opposition. We have seen how many Opposition leaders have been in and out of jail during his tenure over the years. Akbar was tasked with bringing back the ‘looted money’ from abroad and also make airtight cases against Opposition leaders. But he was not able to ‘deliver’ despite his claims otherwise. It is in this context that insiders say he was asked to step down. Whether this is true or not can only be confirmed by the ruling party.
The government’s troubles may not be over yet. The Pakistan Peoples Party has planned an anti-government long march on February 27 while the Opposition alliance, the Pakistan Democratic Movement, will also hold another long march on March 23. These marches are supposed to build pressure on the government, given the economic crunch that the country is in.
Pakistan also slid 16 places to 140 out of 180 countries in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index 2021. The government says that the downward slide is not due to corruption but because of the absence of the rule of law and State capture. The Opposition, on the other hand, has been mocking the government for its ‘anti-corruption’ drive in light of the recent CPI report.
The government and the Opposition will continue to fight, as it happens in all countries, but the real issue that the people of Pakistan face is that of rising inflation. Survival — this is the real issue. For most Pakistanis, such palace or political intrigues don’t matter much as long as they get three meals a day on their table and have enough money to pay their bills. But the last few years have been tough and the new mini-budget will not be able to provide any relief. It remains to be seen whether the government focuses more on taking care of this issue rather than directing all its energies on fighting the Opposition and targeting the media. May the new year be a good one for the people.
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On a personal note, my new year began with the worst news ever. I lost my father on January 1, 2022. He had Parkinson’s for many years, and his health kept deteriorating over the years as this is a debilitating disease. But it was the loss of his sister — who was like a mother to all three brothers — in April 2021 that shook him to the core. He was hospitalized for just two days due to low haemoglobin but he did not survive. It was something so shocking that I have not come to terms with the reality even though it has almost been a month now. Grief, they say, comes in waves, but it stays with you in some ways forever. Processing the loss of my father is something that may take forever. We all have to go one day but nothing prepares you for a loss so big. May you rest in peace, Abu. I will miss you forever.
Mehmal Sarfraz is a journalist based in Lahore; mehmal.s@gmail.com
